Tomato News and Research

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New genetic pathway plays a critical role in the ripening of tomatoes

An international research team has found that a genetic pathway known as CHLORAD, also plays a critical role in the ripening of tomatoes.

24 May 2021

Wild relatives of modern peanut plants can withstand diseases

The wild relatives of modern peanut plants have the ability to withstand disease in ways that peanut plants can't. The genetic diversity of these wild relatives means that they can shrug off the diseases that kill farmers' peanut crops, but they also produce tiny nuts that are difficult to harvest because they burrow deep in the soil.

From University of Georgia 19 May 2021

CSHL investigator aims to predict the effects of mutations on different tomato varieties

Both people and tomatoes come in different shapes and sizes. That is because every individual has a unique set of genetic variations--mutations--that affect how genes act and function. Added together, millions of small genetic variations make it hard to predict how a particular mutation will impact any individual.

13 Apr 2021

Toxin in potatoes is a divergent of bitter-tasting compound in tomatoes

A multi-institutional collaboration has revealed that α-solanine, a toxic compound found in potato plants, is a divergent of the bitter-tasting α-tomatine, which is found in tomato plants.

26 Mar 2021

Study reveals a promising material to control root-knot nematodes

Root-knot nematodes are known to infect a wide variety of plants, including many agriculturally significant species, as well as a variety of ornamentals and vegetables.

23 Mar 2021

New technique based on AI can automate and streamline seed quality analysis

In Brazil, researchers affiliated with the Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture (CENA) and the Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ), both part of the University of São Paulo (USP), have developed a methodology based on artificial intelligence to automate and streamline seed quality analysis, a process required by law and currently done manually by analysts accredited with the Ministry of Agriculture.

22 Mar 2021

Specific proteins in plants can prevent zinc deficiency in humans

More than two billion individuals across the world are malnourished because of zinc deficiency.

5 Mar 2021

Neurons in the brainstem circuit control fine motor skills

Writing, driving a screw or throwing darts are only some of the activities that demand a high level of skill.

7 Jan 2021

Genetically modified tomato can provide a new source of Parkinson’s disease drug

L-DOPA is a drug used for treating Parkinson’s disease, and now researchers have created a tomato that is enriched with this drug. This innovation could lead to a new, inexpensive source of one of the most essential medicines in the world.

10 Dec 2020

Researchers create high-quality reference genome to improve traits in tomato

Thousands of years ago, people in South America began domesticating Solanum pimpinellifolium, a weedy plant with small, intensely flavored fruit. Over time, the plant evolved into S. Lycopersicum - the modern cultivated tomato.

3 Dec 2020

Gene editing technology can introduce diversity, improve nutrition of tomatoes

Whether tomatoes are fresh, cooked, juiced, or sun-dried, they are arguably one of the most multipurpose fruits on Earth.

2 Dec 2020

Endogenous viral elements play important role in genome evolution of green algae

Viruses are tiny invaders that cause a wide range of diseases, from rabies to tomato spotted wilt virus and, most recently, COVID-19 in humans. But viruses can do more than elicit sickness -- and not all viruses are tiny.

19 Nov 2020

Researchers discover how tomato plants identify Cuscuta as a parasite

Working together with researchers from the University of Tübingen, the University of Tromsø, the UC Davis and the Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich, biologists from Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) have discovered how tomato plants identify Cuscuta as a parasite.

5 Nov 2020

Water quality and deficit irrigation schemes have major effects on crop development

In the driest state in the driest continent in the world, South Australian farmers are acutely aware of the impact of water shortages and drought. So, when it comes to irrigation, knowing which method works best is vital for sustainable crop development.

2 Nov 2020

Research demonstrates an agriculturally amenable epigenetic breeding method

Novel grafted plants -- consisting of rootstock epigenetically modified to "believe" it has been under stress -- joined to an unmodified scion, or above-ground shoot, give rise to progeny that are more vigorous, productive and resilient than the parental plants.

23 Oct 2020

Molecular communication may help increase the resistance of crop plants against parasitic plants

Cuscuta spp., also known as dodder, is a parasitic vine which grafts to the host plant using special suckers to obtain water, minerals and carbohydrates.

21 Oct 2020

Two proteins compete to give shape to plants

In an elegant choreography, plants take cues from their environment and channel them into flowers, roots, or branches.

13 Oct 2020

Rapeseed could replace soy as best plant-based source of protein for humans

Rapeseed has the potential to replace soy as the best plant-based source of protein for humans. In a current study, nutrition scientists at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), found that rapeseed protein consumption has comparable beneficial effects on human metabolism as soy protein.

1 Oct 2020

Analysis of wild tomatoes elucidates genetic basis underlying fruit traits

Domestication and subsequent intensive breeding of tomato had a major impact on fruit ripening and the myriad metabolic processes accompanying it.

29 Sep 2020

Mutant tomato helps to decipher fruiting secrets

It may sound like something out of a science fiction B-movie, but with the help of a mutant tomato, researchers from Japan have discovered that the development process of fruit rewires their central metabolism pathway.

11 Sep 2020